Black and White Americans have been shown to differ in the frequency of drinking, in the association of age, income, region, and employment status on drinking patterns, and in the effect of amount of drinking on alcohol- related problems. The major goal of the proposed project is to develop and test a series of socio-cultural models to explain these racial differences in drinking behavior. Using the responses of 1947 black and 1771 white adults surveyed in a major national study of drinking behavior in 1984, this project will conduct a series of analyses to explore the effect of socio-cultural factors on drinking patterns and problems within and across black and white samples. These factors include familial influences on drinking; social network drinking patterns; drinking related norms, attitudes and beliefs; urbanization and migration; life events; religiosity; social mobility; and ethnic identity. Through building a series of multivariate models, the study will examine how the effects of race are mediated through each of the above socio-cultural domains and how race interacts with specific social and demographic characteristics. These models will provide insight into cultural differences between blacks and whites in how the social context affects the level and role of alcohol use and the consequences of drinking. Analyzing these socio-cultural factors is particularly important given the higher rates of alcohol-related problems among blacks, the lack of adequate models to explain this disparity, and lack of culturally relevant intervention approaches.